Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Arizona's head coach Sean Miller watches his team play against Stanford at McKale Center on March 1, 2018 in Tucson, Ariz. Patrick Breen/azcentral sports

Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Arizona's head coach Sean Miller watches his team play against Stanford at McKale Center on March 1, 2018 in Tucson, Ariz.
Patrick Breen/azcentral sports

Arizona's head coach Sean Miller greets his team after a time out against Stanford at McKale Center on March 1, 2018 in Tucson, Ariz. Patrick Breen/azcentral sports

Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Arizona's head coach Sean Miller greets his team after a time out against Stanford at McKale Center on March 1, 2018 in Tucson, Ariz.
Patrick Breen/azcentral sports

Arizona's head coach Sean Miller enters the court before a game against Stanford at McKale Center on March 1, 2018 in Tucson, Ariz. Patrick Breen/a

Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Arizona's head coach Sean Miller enters the court before a game against Stanford at McKale Center on March 1, 2018 in Tucson, Ariz.
Patrick Breen/a

Sean Miller enters the interview room before making a statement on his future with the Arizona Wildcats basketball program at McKale Center on March 1, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz. Mike Christy/Arizona Daily Star

Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Sean Miller enters the interview room before making a statement on his future with the Arizona Wildcats basketball program at McKale Center on March 1, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz.
Mike Christy/Arizona Daily Star

Sean Miller grabs his written statement off the table in a brisk manner after speaking about his future with the Arizona Wildcats basketball program at McKale Center on March 1, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz. Miller maintained he engaged in no wrongdoing in regard to allegedly paying a player, adding he looks forward to coaching the team this season. Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Star, Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Star

Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Sean Miller grabs his written statement off the table in a brisk manner after speaking about his future with the Arizona Wildcats basketball program at McKale Center on March 1, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz. Miller maintained he engaged in no wrongdoing in regard to allegedly paying a player, adding he looks forward to coaching the team this season.
Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Star, Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Star

Sean Miller makes a statement on his future with the Arizona Wildcats basketball program at McKale Center on March 1, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz. Miller maintained he engaged in no wrongdoing in regard to allegedly paying a player, adding he looks forward to coaching the team this season. Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Sta, Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Sta

Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Sean Miller makes a statement on his future with the Arizona Wildcats basketball program at McKale Center on March 1, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz. Miller maintained he engaged in no wrongdoing in regard to allegedly paying a player, adding he looks forward to coaching the team this season.
Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Sta, Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Sta

Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Arizona Wildcats head coach Sean Miller swings a net around in celebration after the Wildcats defeated Oregon in the Pac-12 tournament championship game at T-Mobile Arena on March 11, 2017. Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Arizona Wildcats head coach Sean Miller swings a net around in celebration after the Wildcats defeated Oregon in the Pac-12 tournament championship game at T-Mobile Arena on March 11, 2017.
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Story Highlights

Arizona Wildcats head coach Sean Miller was answering questions at a press conference recently when the back-and-forth turned to the FBI's investigation into college basketball.

The question: What was Miller's reaction to a news reportthat the NCAA may move forward with its investigation into potential rules violations, instead of waiting until after a series of related federal criminal trials end in the spring?

"I'm not sure what you're saying," Miller said, shrugging and continuing his familiar response of deflecting questions about the scandal.

With his 10th coaching season for Arizona underway and the team taking part in the Maui Invitational this week, Miller still struggles to shake the cloud that hangs over his basketball program. It has been more than a year since federal prosecutors announced allegations of a pay-for-play scheme involving assistant basketball coaches at multiple schools, clothing executives and sports agents.

The 50-year-old Miller has denied wrongdoing and isn't named in the federal complaints.

But his former long-time assistant, Emanuel "Book" Richardson, is scheduled to go on trial for bribery and fraud in April, prompting Arizona fans to worry whether the allegations will eventually result in NCAA penalties such as vacated wins, scholarship reductions or fines.

Here are four reasons why the scandal still lingers:

1. New allegations related to the UA Wildcats surfaced at a recent trial

The first of three federal trials related to the college basketball scandal began in October and although Arizona wasn't the target of that trial, new allegations involving the school emerged.

The constant "drip, drip, drip" of allegations doesn't help Arizona's reputation and makes it more challenging to recruit, said Gene Grabowski, a crisis communications counselor and partner with Kglobal in Washington, D.C.

Among the Arizona-related allegations:

Former Arizona Associate Head Coach Joe Pasternack was accused of offering $50,000 to try to recruit top-rated prospect Brian Bowen to play for the Wildcats. Pasternack, now head coach for UC Santa Barbara, did not respond to a request for comment from The Arizona Republic.

A former consultant for Adidas, Thomas Grassnola, testified he paid $15,000 cash in 2015 to try to lure star player Deandre Ayton to an Adidas school, only to see him sign with Nike-sponsored Arizona. Ayton, the NBA's No. 1 draft pick who plays for the Phoenix Suns, has denied receivingany payment.

ESPN reported after the trial that aspiring sports agent Christian Dawkins wrote of a plan to pay Arizona standout Rawle Alkins and his family $50,000 while he played for Arizona last season. Alkins, who plays on a two-way contract for the Chicago Bulls, has not commented publicly on the allegation.

The allegations made during the trial prompted the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees the state universities, to convene a closed-door meeting in early November so it could be briefed by UA Athletic Director Dave Heeke and UA President Robert C. Robbins.

The meeting attracted national media attention, even though the regents characterized it as a routine update.

When Regents Chairman Ron Shoopman emerged from the 90-minute meeting, he said, "You have our pledge that we will take action when action is warranted, and we’re aggressively pursuing the facts as we look at all of this."

2. The threat of NCAA violations to Arizona

At the center of the FBI probe into college basketball are allegations that assistant coaches at several schools and recruits received payments that violate rules set by the governing body of college sports.

Payments to basketball players, beyond what they get in scholarships, violate the NCAA's amateur standard.

If a recruit took money from a sports agent, he could be deemed ineligible by the NCAA and any games he played in vacated, said Alicia Jessop, a sports law professor at Pepperdine University. The schools also could be at risk for having to return revenue earned during that time.

Coaches can be suspended, and the NCAA can reduce the number of athletic scholarships a program awards for a period of years.

Though no evidence has been introduced that Miller knew of the alleged payments, a head coach under an NCAA rule that went into effect in 2013 can be held responsible if his assistant coaches commit major NCAA violations. The NCAA considers major violations to be things like cheating in the classroom or giving money or gifts to a player to try and lure him to a school.

One of the best-known examples of a coach taking the fall for his program happened in 2010, when the NCAA concluded that former University of Southern California football Assistant Coach Todd McNair "knew or should have known" that star running back Reggie Bush and his family received thousands of dollars in cash and travel from sports marketers.

McNair was sanctioned with a "show-cause penalty" and prohibited from recruiting for a year. USC had to vacate 14 wins, including an Orange Bowl victory after the 2004 season that secured the national title.

The football program also lost 30 scholarships over three seasons and couldn't play in the postseason for two years. USC didn't renew McNair's contract.

In the McNair case, the NCAA investigation lasted about four years.

It's unclear how long the NCAA investigations into college basketball corruption will take.

"There’s not a real hard-and-fast statute of limitations in the NCAA world. It could take a while before we hear anything," said Jessop, the sports law professor.

3. Miller's assistant goes on trial in April

Miller's former assistant, Richardson, is scheduled to go on trial April 22 in a New York federal courtroom.

The federal complaint against Richardson says he met with an aspiring sports agent, Christian Dawkins, in June 2017 and others and agreed to steer student-athletes at Arizona toward a new sports management company controlled by the 25-year-old Dawkins.

Richardson accepted a $5,000 cash bribe after the June meeting, the indictment says, and a month later another $15,000.

"Richardson represented that he intended to provide these funds to a high school basketball prospect and/or his family so that this recruit would commit to attending the University of Arizona," the indictment said.

What other details will emerge during trial? Richardson, who has entered a plea of not guilty, has not commented publicly.

Miller issued a statement after Richardson's arrest, saying he was "devastated to learn of the allegations."

The 45-year-old Richardson had been at Arizona for the entire Miller era. He followed the head coach to Tucson after they worked together at Xavier University from 2007 to 2009.

They no longer appear to be close, though.

Richardson's wife, Erin, told Stadium sports network in September that Miller and the Arizona basketball coaching staff haven’t talked to her husband since his arrest a year ago. The university fired him in January.

“He feels abandoned,” she said. “He feels like he was deemed guilty and thrown out with the trash.”

Court records show Richardson has spent the past year occasionally traveling out of state to look for work. He received permission from the court to travel to Las Vegas in July to attend the NBA Summer League to network and job hunt.

Erin Richardson told Stadium that the family has dipped into their savings to pay legal and living expenses and is without health insurance.

They are eager to see the legal issues resolved.

"He just wants to get on with his life,” she told the sports network. “The waiting game is killing us.”

4. Arizona, Miller not saying much

Fans who are looking for answers haven't received many details from the university.

University officials and Miller haven't said much beyond carefully crafted statements.

The university retained the Steptoe & Johnson law firm more than a year ago to perform an independent review of the allegations.

Robbins, the university president, said the review would be completed "as efficiently and as comprehensively as possible" and that the results would be shared publicly.

University officials have not said when the review will be finished. And they have repeatedly declined to release many records related to the investigation to media outlets such as The Republic, The Arizona Daily Star and ESPN. The university cites as the reason, "the balancing act established by the Arizona courts to protect disclosure detrimental to the best interest of the state."

Miller issued a statement in March after ESPN reported that FBI wiretaps captured him talking with a sports agent about paying $100,000 to ensure Ayton signed with the Wildcats.

Ayton denied the allegations, and Miller said:

"I have never paid a recruit or prospect or their family or representative to come to Arizona. I never have and I never will. I have never arranged or directed payment or improper benefits to a recruit or prospect or family or representative and I never will."

Miller's statement went onto say that someone once suggested he pay a player to come to the university, but he did not agree to it. The player did not come to Arizona, he said.

He declined to name the student-athlete out of respect for privacy and the ongoing federal investigation.

Since then, when reporters ask Miller about the federal investigation, he has repeatedly referred them to his March statement.